When last we saw Dr. Gregory House (the brilliant Hugh Laurie, criminally robbed of an Emmy yet again), he seemed to have hit rock bottom. Plagued by hallucinations (the dead Amber Volakis) and haunted by the inexplicable suicide of his fellow Lawrence Kutner, House fell ever-deeper into the abyss. In the season five finale, House is abruptly snapped from his happy delusion of being Vicodin-free and in a relationship with Cuddy.
Believing his symptoms are caused by long-term Vicodin abuse, House admits himself to Mayfield Psychiatric Hospital. The final scene of season five finds House hesitantly going through the doors of Mayfield, leaving fans to wonder just what we (and House) would find on the other side of summer.
What we have is "Broken," a two-hour premiere that pulls House (and us) from his familiar surroundings and people and thrusts him into an environment completely antithetical to what we know of the character. It's a complete departure for the series, dispensing with the usual medical mystery, and most of the main series cast. "Broken" confirms the series is far from "broken," with tight writing, sensitive direction, and wonderful, fully realized performances all round.
I had the chance to interview House, M.D. executive producer/writers Garret Lerner and Russel Friend for their thoughts on "Broken" and the season ahead. The duo wrote the season premiere along with series creator and showrunner David Shore and David Foster.
Friend and Lerner have been writing House since season two and have penned some of the series' finest episodes, including the stunning season four two-part finale "House's Head" and "Wilson's Heart," and season five's "Locked In." But writing the premiere, and coming at it from such a foreign position "was scary and risky to do," the duo told me. "We left the comfort zone in a way we never have before."
The writers explained "with the character of House already at such a low point, it would have been difficult to start from there and have the same show." Instead, executive producer (and episode director) Katie Jacobs decided to take the risk of doing a two-hour episode and "follow House through that experience."
"We talked a lot about whether we were going to cut back to the hospital and see what's going on with everyone there, what the team is doing in House's absence, what's going on with Wilson and Cuddy. We ultimately decided to simply be true to House's experience. It would be more powerful to just stay with him," they said. Of the regular cast, only Wilson appears, and then only for a brief scene.
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Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - wackjob
I already commented at length on the review, so I'll only say that it's hard to believe they did all of that research, even if they did. House never talked about the incredibly traumatic year he'd been through, his abusive childhood, inadvertently causing Amber's death, Kutner's suicide...he gets laid and voila, House is open to change. If only the rest of us with mental illness found change that easy. And what hospital would let House a) drive someone's else's care to an amusement park with another patient b) again inadvertently almost cause someone's death, and not lock him in isolation and dope him up with Haldol?
Sorry, but this wasn't "House," this was an Afterschool Special.
2 - barbara barnett
I wouldn't have expected this to be a tell-all reveal-all episode. This took place over months, how do we know he didn't talk about some of those things? I don't think this is going to be easy. Remember, House is there voluntarily, and will undoubtedly require more therapy. The goal was to get him healthy enough to leave.
3 - mary
Ugh, they were worried about just how the House/Cuddy fans would react to the House/Lydia storyline? Really? Why should they be bothered? House and Cuddy aren't in a relationship, and the show doesn't owe any fanbase anything. I really don't understand the tendency by the writers lately to treat that one group of fans differently than others.
4 - barbara barnett
Mary, they just gave it some thought, just like they gave thought to the idea of taking the entire cast out of the episode. They didn't do anything differently, but it was something of a risk, considering all the huddies out there. Who, interestingly enough, didn't really seem to mind (as far as I've been able to see)
5 - Jair
I think the writers were just acknowledging that the show left off with House realising he did indeed have romantic desires in regard to Cuddy and if that will be picked up again in some way in the future, as David Shore has said it will, then they had to be careful what they were establishing between House and Lydia. I thought they did a marvelous job.
The interlude was believable with two damaged people focusing on the institution as a separate place from a difficult daily life, and realising both that they truly connect with each other and they are not in the right time or place for the relationship to go forward.
House's knocking on the door was the step forward for him he can take away from the experience.
I loved the episode, though, yes, the music box was a little cheesy. It was still a nice counter balance to the opposite theory of pills being the route to health. All potential ways to healing were represented, which is a good thing.
6 - barbara barnett
I agree with you jair. L/F also said the encounter did not preclude something with H/C later... of course.
Of course television is never realistic. It's not a documentary, it's entertainment. Everything's compressed and much is symbolically represented.
For its cheesiness, I still really liked the music box. First representing House's failure and then his redemption.
7 - nicole.o
What a powerful and unique eposide. A risk? Definitely. Do I think it paid off? Absolutely. It was very different than what we are used to, but I found it refreshing, moving, emotional, and inciteful. I don't think it was always perfect, at times it seemed a little convenient (music box) and off character (rapping?) but I liked those things as well. Perhaps that is House, just a side we only get to see when he is around no one who knows him in his outside world? Sometimes we can be more oursleves around strangers than with those who have known us our whole lives becuase there is no persona that is expected, no image to maintain.
I was very moved by the connection he made with Lydia, proving I am not just a huddy fan, but a romatic side of House fan. It was probably the first time he has let himself connect with anyone intimately since Stacy. His other sexual encounters were with hookers with no emotional connection, a physical need met is all. That must have felt amazing for him to finally have that again, and know he CAN have that again. The fact that Hugh thought of adding the tears was great. That touch put it over the edge. It was so much more than just sex, and that scene was one of the most moving and telling of the strides he is making. Bravo. The two of them are exceptional actors together as well. She was perfect for the role.
As to the comments made about him not addressing the real issues... I think this was a breakthrough that he realizes he can make connections with people and address his feelings. At first I was thinking it would have been nice to see a cut away shot of him talking about various issues (not diving into it for us but showing he was doing work on it) but then I came to the conclusion that it would have seemed like a fix all for House. He's not necessarily ready to bare his soul and confront everything, it's baby steps. He is not leaving healed, he is leaving with a promise of finding a better place in his life. Addressing any more than they did would have seemed too quick and too easy. We are going to follow him on this journey throughout the season, not just the first episode. But for House, this was a big start. The rest will come in time. If you've been in therapy you know it takes time to address the heaviest of things. But I believe he is coming to terms with the fact that he does not have to be defined by his mistakes anymore. He can apolagize and move on. He can begin to let go. I think this opener gives us all some things to think about. Very deep. I look forward to taking this journey with House and with all of you. I've missed everyone's comments this summer. Good to be back!
I am also very excited about the previews for this season. I think it is shaping up to be the best yet... :)
8 - savta
Barbara -
Thanks for your preview article, which heightened my anticipation even more and for the premier episode analysis and Lerner/Friend interview which shed light on the thought processes and ideas that went into the brilliant writing of this terrific two hour season premiere.
I loved every minute of this episode.
Wackjob - I think your comments about the veracity of the portrayal of the process of working through a mental illness to the point of being enough on the road to better mental health that one is ready to resume his/her life in an improved state are well taken.
However, as with most of the House episodes where the viewer is asked to make a leap of faith or suspend disbelief for everything from the super doctors who execute all the tests from small blood draws to brain surgery themselves, to the rapidity with which test results appear, to the magical thinking in the DDX that spurs House to come up with the brilliant diagnoses, we are asked to do the same thing with this episode.
It would have helped a little more to have one or two sentences inserted somewhere to give the viewer a sense of the time lapse from the beginning of House's entrance into the facility to the bus ride. Was it weeks, months? There were some scenes with some rainy weather. Was it from early spring to late fall?
In the same vein, it would have helped to have one or two sentences that illustrated that House dealt with his issues to some extent during his therapy sessions. Hopefully, some of this will be referred to in future episodes? i.e "during the 6 months (or weeks) that you were gone." or something like that just to fill in some of the missing back story. Or maybe we don't need it and it is enough to have him back in his hopefully non-vicodin dependent altered state.
9 - nicole.o
I also like how it showed House's growth in that THIS time when he got to the woman's door, he was able to knock on it and talk to her. Tell her how he felt and be vulnerable. With Cuddy, he got to the door but could not knock. He walked away keeping his feelings inside. That's progress. I love the House and Cuddy dynamic and always will be a fan of theirs and their chemistry. However, the story with Lydia was beautiful.
10 - nicole.o
Savta- It took place over the three-four month break between seasons. It will be addressed because life has gone on at the hospital and changes had to be made to combat House's absence. The idea is that this whole time, since the season finale to the season premier, House has been in Mayfield. This opener was to show what happened during that time and next week will pick up at the hospital in present time. Hope that helps...
11 - Jair
"And what hospital would let House a) drive someone's else's care to an amusement park with another patient b) again inadvertently almost cause someone's death, and not lock him in isolation and dope him up with Haldol?"
Administering haldol is not supposed to be a punishment, it's a way to help someone stop being a danger to himself or another. House recognised that he had screwed up and made poor decisions. He asked for help. He didn't need haldol. And House is also a patient in the hospital and ill--the carnival trip happened because the hospital did not supervise well enough. You don't blame the patient for being ill. You help the patient process and get better. And you put better security measures in place.
12 - Jen
Barbara, the review is great! It seems like it has been a long summer. Glad to be back. I thought the ep was excellent and was true to the Classic House from earlier days. You can count me in as being here each week! Thank you for your thoughts! And, I too cannot figure out how HL doesn't get that darned Emmy. But I would rather have a great career and a huge following than one staute and fleeting fame. I guess House said it himself, success is forgotten, but failure is forever...
13 - sherlockjr
One of the things I liked about the episode (and from reading other people's reactions, perhaps they didn't see it this way) is that they didn't go into detail about all of his past issues -- guilt over Amber & Kutner, pain from his father's treatment of him, fear over losing his abilities as a doctor, anger over how the leg pain has changed his life. He was at Mayfield for several months, and we see only a fraction of his therapy sessions, leaving the rest to our imaginations. For me, that really worked. It keeps the sense of mystery for us as viewers, leaving some aspects of House's psyche a secret until the time when the writers choose to divulge a little bit more.
There's also the issue of his friendship with Wilson. Clearly, when Wilson refuses to help him manipulate his way out of Mayfield, Wilson is anguished about it, but House is also, feeling that he's some how lost his friend because of it. I would hope -- and the next episodes should clear this up -- that by the time he's released, House has realized that Wilson was right to hang up on him, that by turning him down, as painful as that was for both of them, it led House to the place he needed to be. Ironically, when Wilson hangs up on him, House believes he has virtually no friends, but by the end of the film (I refuse to call it an episode), he has gotten close to several people and may consider some of them friends - Alvie and Dr. Nolan, in particular.
One thing Barbara didn't mention that struck me fiercely (as it did with everyone who saw the premiere with me at the Cinerama Dome) is that in the final scene, not only does Wilson not come pick him up -- and we're not sure if at this moment House believes they're still friends -- but House leaves on a bus, bringing everything back full circle to the bus crash that caused Amber's death and triggered House's eventual emotional breakdown. There was an audible gasp in the theater when he gets on the bus.
I just hope they keep going with this, allowing House to stay in touch with some of these people, especially Dr. Nolan and Alvie, and that they never again show us a House who is untouched by this experience.
14 - Flo
It was a very good episode but not that great.
The music box is completly cheesy even if I can forgive that.
On the other hand, Nolan calling House when his father died was totally irrealistic and laughable. I'm with Wackjob on that: there is no way a psychiatrist can do that with a patient (even if the patient is actually a doctor) and remain professional. How can Nolan still treat House after that?
The writers went too far on that one. I actually laughed of disbelief. I know we are suppose to do a "leap of faith" like savta correctly said it, but there are limits.
The end with Alvie asking for pills was a little too corny for my taste.
Otherwise it was a very interesting, insightful episode. Great acting from everyone.
This season couldn't bengin in a better way.
15 - Val
Barbara- great review and article as always!
As a fan who watches House the show for House the character, I really liked this episode. It may have not delved into bigger issues that face House, but like sherlockjr, this was an aspect I liked. House made several hugh strides during his time at Mayfield. First, he admitted he wants to be happy to a living, breathing human being and made steps towards that end. He was able to admit that he needed and ask Nolan for help. The last time we (and he) saw him do that was in the beginning of his delusion with Cuddy. He made it to the door and talked with Lydia; something he wasn't able to do with Cuddy. Those are big for the good doc, and I look forward to the exploration of his other issues in future episodes.
In the end, House did what he does best! He helped others (of course, not his patients) and himself. It's one of the things that is so amazing about this character. He was able to "fix" things to some extent for Silent Girl and Freedom Master, but his presence had an effect on everyone like Alvie and even Nolan. I'll also agree with sherlockjr on the importance of the bus scene and coming full circle. Wilson, or anybody, could not pick him up. I imagine he hasn't been on a bus since the accident...he did apologize to Wilson and Wilson said he never blamed him even though he tried. I think he may have finally forgiven himself.
I really enjoyed all the guest actors; they were all excellent. I didn't even miss the ducklings (old and new)...Dr. Nolan's staff actually reminded me of a couple of them.
Barbara, it was funny to see that G/L said the final take was HL's idea and only KL knew about it. When House took that bow with the waving-hands gesture I almost said out loud "There's Hugh!"...I've seen him do that gesture a number of times on talk shows.
Enjoying all the comments and am a bit frustrated that I lost my original (longer comment), but think I got the jist of it in this shorter one. Looking forward to the further discussions this season!
16 - Val
Even with the preview still get the typos--should be huge instead of hugh, but figure you may have all realized it since it wasn't capitalized. Sorry.
17 - simplethings
I have to say that I am a huge fan of watching House's character develop, but last year I was intent on wanting to see him and Cuddy attempt something.
I loved the character of Lydia and what she brought to this episode. Lydia was honest! And open! And this is why it worked with House. When Cuddy blew her chances of being honest with House (during Let them Eat Cake, Unfaithful, and The Softer Side), he couldn't step forward with her.
They're both emotionally terrified and Lydia was refreshingly true to herself (granted, while cheating on her husband).
I loved the episode. I thought it was one of the best of the series. I am partial to the second half where we finally got to see some truly poignant House moments.
Even House holding hands with someone made me gasp and the love scene was perfect.
I only hope that the writers (who I do trust) don't just return to the status quo. I want a mix of the cake in the face House we just witnessed and the sharp wit we all watch the show for.
And by the way, Hugh looked dreamy throughout the whole thing. Even my roommate was drooling. I told her it was about time...
Here's to a wonderful season six!
18 - Mary Dagmar
Wackjob. It is the nature of fine screenwriting that you do not slow the drama with unnecessary exposition. This is clearly a one-off standalone movie for television. It is an intelligent gift to a discerning audience. If you allow for the compression of time you would realise that the psychiatrist working with House is familiar with much of the material that concerns you. Thank you Barbara for an excellent article.
19 - Spider
I've been as big a fan as anyone else, having seen all episodes so far, most of them several times over, evangelizing about the show to friends, selecting specific episodes to show them and watching them along to get them hooked.
However, this show was just unbelievably corny, and I'm still blinking in disbelief that they'd take such a 180º turn from the pervious tone of the series.
It starts with taking Freedom Master to the amusement park. No, no, no, no. House would never let his nice side shine through so obviously. They should have let him hide his intentions behind some much more devious plan.
And besides, this was nothing but an Olympic-sized cliché.
OK, that ended in doom and gloom, alright. But it wasn't because House messed up, as usual, the emotional side of things, and allowed his cold intellect get its way. Nope, he screwed up by being a big softie and forgetting to think. Kind of the diametrically opposite way that House would ever do.
But then the story goes downhill from there, very fast. And I'm concerned that so does the entire series. OK, in a certain way, House does get a pass from viewers, as he's in an isolated institution and his actions won't be revealed to the outside world, so he can be a bit less careful than normal about putting up a façade. But not nearly as much as he actually did in this uncharacteristically sentimental feel-good episode. In the end, he was acting like an anorexic Santa Claus, making everyone happy all around him in a special way, touching lives, influencing people, and spreading wuv.
And the thing with the magic music box... Really, that is by far the lowest point of the entire series so far. The worst cliché I've seen in the past year on television, it would at least warrant an explanation, as to "WTF just happened? Hello? Anyone there? Huh? Is that a joke? Did someone film some placeholder text in the script, or what? Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet?"
And the love affair?
And Nolan's father?
Really, when something is too good to be true, it usually is in House. The pure idyll of "Under My Skin" was redeemed by the grim reality of "Both Sides Now." The virgin birth in "Joy to the World" was a worrisome moment, but luckily we soon found out what a blatant lie it had been, and what cynical purpose it served. (Of course, that lie also saved a marriage, nicely hiding House's nice side under several layers of cynicism.)
And now... This? We get an episode which constitues the corniest thing I've seen on any screen in the past six months, and I do watch almost all romantic comedies as they come out.
At any moment near the end, I was expecting House to wake up yet again and realize that it was, again, just a hallucination.
House has not only jumped the shark spectacularly, but also plastered its broken fin and tucked it in, kissing it goodnight. And the speculation by the writers about whether or not House has a nice streak to him is making me even more depressed: hello, you should know this stuff, not debate about it... You are the authors, for crying out loud!
I wonder if S06E02 has anything up its sleeve to make us forget this unwelcome departure. (A tiny bit of hope might be afforded by the revelation by Hugh Laurie that House won't have his license back four episodes in, which contradicts the happy-go-lucky ending of this abomination.)
So, alas, all I have is the faint hope that the proverbial shark can still be unjumped.
20 - Chelsea Doyle
I was annoyed by this episode. I think in general it was well directed and extremely well acted, but I couldn't get past the ludicrous nature of most of it. It was inaccurate to psychiatric facilities, first of all, and considering that there is plenty of people to research and question ... this really shouldn't have been an issue. Is it so boring on TV to get the truth?
Beyond that, the Lydia/House thing was offensive. I don't have a problem with House's point of this; he's shown himself to be very tied romantically to people sometimes, and he moved in with Stacy super fast. I have to wonder what kind of person Lydia has to be. She's married with children and obsessed with her sister-in-law, and she meets a man - A PATIENT AT A MENTAL FACILITY - and ends up committing adultery with him. Sounds like she should be checked in as well, honestly. And what kind of irresponsible human being would give two psychiatric patients her car? I don't care how much she thinks she 'knew' House at that point; someone almost died because of it and she should be held accountable for this. It's not enough to say it was "nice" for House to do it. That is not an excuse for her negligence. And let's say House was a truly unstable patient who managed to put on a face for her, she truly wants to mess with his emotions and his mind by screwing around with him and then going 'meh, I can't mess with my family.' She should have thought of that before. For all she knows House could lose his mind and take it out on her and her family for her choice. I hated that entire storyline and felt like they were force feeding it down my throat.
My general problem with this episode is that I fear nothing will have lasting changes. Keep in mind that several times now they started a season out with a 'huge House event that would change everything' and then ... nothing changes. His fixed knee for like two episodes, the Vogler issue, Tritter, it's all rolled up neatly in a few episodes and then brushed off to go back to the status quo. I wouldn't have any problem with House changing and having lasting effects from this episode, but I think the writers will eventually just go back to the easy street and all this will be something in the past no on comments on anymore.
I hope this is not the case, but I've grown too accustomed to it to not be disgruntled by the Lifetime Movie Version of House.
21 - KC
I'm tired of people saying that it is unrealistic that house would change. He was in a situation were he was forced to deal and in the end he did. This episode was stayed true to house because at first he was reluctant but he got to the point were he realized just functioning was not enough. I don't think house will change over night but on last nights episode he took a huge first step. This episode was amazing and I'm still upset hugh laurie didn't win the emmy on sunday.
22 - Sera G.
Barbara, once again a wonderful, insightful and thought provoking article about the S.6 'movie'. Thank you!
I wanted to add a few of my observations after watching last night, discussing it with friends and just mulling it over in my mind:
1. TPTB took a big risk and in my opinion, it paid off. "Broken" was beautifully written. It was strong, funny and creative, wonderfully directed by KJ. Granted, there were a few moments that might have not been true "House", but this wasn't House as we know him. This episode gave viewers who might be unfamiliar with the character a chance to meet him in a totally different way. Yes, he was sarcastic, mean, maniuplative, etc. but we were also given a chance to see more of the inner man and his true struggle to get better. It also gave the fans a chance to see him with fresh eyes. Who knows what the writers will do as the season progresses, but I felt this was almost a 'reboot' of the House character. He has a chance to live life with managable pain, knows that he can confront loss and disappointment without resorting to numbing himself. I hope that the essence of the man is allowed to grow. He can still be a bit of a jerk, who isn't at times, but it might be fun to see this side of Greg House.
2. When I first read that none of the cast (with the exception of a few minutes with Wilson) were to be a part of "Broken" I must admit that I was disappointed. After viewing, the epi. I feel that it would not have been as powerful performed any other way. It was crucial that our focus stay with the world of Mayfield. For however many months that House was there, that was his only life. It was interesting and believable that he never wondered about patients, Wilson or Cuddy, never mentioned his team. For all House knew, he could have been at Mayfield a VERY long time. A friend of our family was at a sanitarium for TB (many years ago). He said that he couldn't endure it without 'forgetting' about his other life. He had to make his time at the sanitarium his world.
3. On to my favorite topic; Cuddy/House. I wasn't too upset, because, as was said this was not a relationship that could last. I appreciated what it brought out in House, an opportunity to show the tender, sweet side that he hides so fiercely. I felt that Lydia could not have really expected anything more than a brief moment, as she never talked about her family, never told him she had children, etc. Yes, I know, that was so that is was more dramatic when the door was opened by the little boy, but again, she never wanted more than comfort and a chance to forget the loss and pain that her sister in law suffered and the strain and grief that brought to her family. Again, would House really have expected more to come from it? IMO, no. Other than music, what did they share?
I must respectfully disagree with Mary's post (#3) regarding the Huddies being upset. Granted we love the pairing, but it is not without a lot of encouragement from the writers. We did not invent House being jealous and interrupting Cuddy's date in "Insensitive" nor his concern when Wilson appeared interested. We did not have him fantasize Cuddy helping with a DDX in her school girl uniform in "H.Head". We didn't have 18 episodes devoted to the possibility of a relationship in season 5. The writers have given us plenty of evidence that there is more to the duo than mere friendship/valuable employee. It is a dynamic chemistry and lifetime bond that they share.
23 - Prof
Great review! Like you, I didn't *love* the cheesy parts, but I thought the actors were so good that they sold it. And I loved how much they got out of Wilson's 2 minutes on the phone, as well as his absence at the end.
One thing that amuses me is your revealing that Hugh was responsible for the cake and the toilet serenade. A bunch of us on the forum were convinced that those decisions were Hugh's... I think he loves House as much as we do.
It's interesting that some people are worried that House has 'changed' and others are worried that 'nothing has really changed and he'll go back to how he was'. To which I respond with a reference to the Ledge Analogy. Some people want the guy to jump, others want him to go in. I want the writers to keep performing the death-defying and insanely beautiful balancing act that they've been doing for 5+ seasons now!
24 - sdemar
Excellent review, Barbara. You could have added several more pages because there was so much that went on and you would have kept my interest.
As a Huddy, I had absolutely no problem with Lydia.What took place fit and I was glad to see someone acknowledge and accept House for who he is. I found the storyline sweet and tender. Plus it shows us and House that maybe it is time for him to take the risk again and try once again to connect to a woman and in my mind, I can only think Cuddy. House is such a tender and sweet lover. A hard shell but underneath and exposed, he is raw to the bone. And I am glad the writers acknowledged the House/Cuddy storyline. They have spent 2 year's building up their relationship. Just because the finale was a hallucination doesn't eliminate what transpired prior to that and I would feel cheated if they just dropped it with no resolution or continuation.
Question? What was Hugh's idea? The lovemaking or the crying at the end?
As far as the final scene, I totally saw Hugh in that. Face in cake, face in clothes in HH. Only Hugh can come up with that. The little bowing with his hands is very characteristic of him. Not that I minded but I saw Hugh and not House in the cake celebration scene.
As Jair pointed out, this was one time when House was willing to open the door and walk through. What will he do now that he is out on his own?
This was such a brilliant episode all around. Yes, some of it was a little cheesy and farfetched, but I was willing to suspend my belief for storytelling purposes.
BTW, I adore KJ. She is terrific and has a wonderful ability to bring out the best in Hugh. It is apparent he puts a lot of trust in her. And kudos to the writers. I think I have to say this is the best episode of the show. I seem to keep saying that but they have a way of outdoing themselves.
Although I didn't miss the rest of the cast and loved the 3 other stars of this episode-AB, LM, FP, I am excited to meet up again with the familiar faces. I'm excited to see House's reaction when he first sees Cuddy. I hope they don't skip over that. I've been waiting 4 months for that moment.
Thanks again, Barbara. Well done.
25 - Sera G.
Yikes, that is embarassing! I pressed Post accidentally. Sorry, I am almost done.
House is sitting, again, at the back of a bus...incredible! He has come full circle, perhaps able to achieve what he wished at the end of "W. Heart", to not be in pain, not be miserable and to not have Wilson hate him. Beautifully done, writers!
I loved that hug with Alvy. I think the true healing was that Alvy would take his meds. The music box scene was sweet and necessary to move along the plot, but that was true House. Unsentimental, do this, it will make things better...no fuss, no fanfare.
By the by, the only false note that I felt was when House was upset by the doctor bursting superhero's delusion. That was pure House! He would have called the patient on that in a second. Perhaps that was him having more empathy with a person in pain, but it just rubbed me a bit wrong.
In summary, it was worth waiting 133 days! (Yes, I counted!)
Beautifully written, amazing direction, incredible performances. On to season 6!